Behind The Scenes

Chapter 13 (Part One): I always liked trouble

"Can I ask you something?" Alyssa questioned, playing with the grass between her fingers.

Both of them were sitting on the floor against the chapel's wall. Further away, they could see that the party was already going empty, but none of them had a watch or a phone to know how long they were there. Matthew laughed.

"Don't you think you discovered enough stuff for one day, America's Sweetheart?" He teased and the girl laughed, pushing his shoulder.

"As a kid, I was a bit of a detective..."

"Don't come all Ted Mosby on me this hour of the evening, please," he replied, and Aly giggled. They shared a gaze, without actually saying anything for a few seconds.

"You never ever heard about your father anymore?" Aly asked, lowering her tone, and Crawford looked to the front, with a smile on his lips. He knew she'd ask, anyway. He could even win a bet against himself.

Matthew shook his head, then let out a breath.

"I don't know," he said, and Alyssa frowned, confused. He decided to continue, knowing that she would ask it anyway, whether he liked it or not. "After I realized he wasn't coming back, I simply refused to know or hear anything related to him. Even as a teen... my grandpa tried to talk about this a few times, but I always pushed him away."

"Aren't you curious?"

"I rarely think about it, really. It must be because nobody ever asks it," he provoked, grinning, and saw the actress' face blushing. "But no, I'm not curious at all. He slammed that door and I decided to close it and lock it for good."

The silence took place again, giving space for the wind sound to take over. Alyssa hugged her own arms and Crawford rolled his eyes, taking off his blazer. He laughed.

"Stop acting like we are in one of this super cheesy and predictable movies you love." He said and the girl made a face.

"Excuse me?"

"Hugging your own arms while we are in silence. Now you put this on your back, we look at each other for some very long and awkward moment, and then I kiss you." Matt said, making a disgusted face. Alyssa laughed aloud.

"You are so romantic. You make me wanna sigh. I feel like I found my Prince Charming," she teased, laughing, and Crawford did the same.

"You were looking for Prince Charming by any chance?"

"Hanging out with you? Not at all. I found my antidote." She replied, and the actor showed his middle finger, making her laugh even more. "I understand why you are crazy mad at your father." She said, out of the blew, and Matt widened his eyes with the subtle change of the subject. "But what if he appeared here, now, in this party... wouldn't you want to talk to the guy?"

"Fuck, you don't give up!" He complained, and the girl smiled, proving that he was right. "No, Aly. I'm not that good of a person that you might think I am right now. I resent things. I'm not even a bit interested to hear the reasons that drove him away from me, as long as this keeps him wherever the fuck he is, far from me."

Aly held Matthew's hand, that was lying side by side with hers over the grass, and she saw him correcting his posture, which almost made her giggle.

"I have something very important to say about all of this."

Crawford rolled his eyes, theatrically.

"I don't want to hear it, but I assume that it doesn't matter."

"I'm hungry." She interrupted him, and Matt made a face, then laughed.

He got up, pulling her by the hand.